Machine for cutting veneers



(No Model.) 7 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. B. WILSON. MACHINE FOR CUTTINGVENEERS.

No, 486,152. Patented Nov. 15 1892.

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(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 3. J. B. WILSON.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING V-BNEERS; v I No. 486,152. Patented Nov. 15,1892.

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' UNITED STATES PATENT OF ICE.

JOHN B. \VILSON, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING VENEERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 486,152, dated November15, 1892. Application filed April 15, 1890. serial No- 348,130. (Nomodel.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, JOHN B. WILSON, of the city of Brooklyn, county ofKings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Machinery and Machines for Cutting Veneers, of which thefollowing is a full, true, and exact description,

Veneer-cutting knife a reciprocating motion,

whereby the cutting capacity of the edge of said knife is increased, soas to cut more readily than heretofore under adverse conditionsas where,for instance, the knife-edge is corrugated and a reciprocating motionimparted thereto to enrich the grain of the veneer, 0r, again, in a casewhere, for instance, the knife, though straight-edged, is used incutting unusually-hard and figured logs.

The object of my invention is, further, to secure greater uniformity ofthickness than heretofore in veneers by increasing the precision,steadiness, and regularity of motion with which the log, cap or guidepiece, and knife are operated with relation to each other. I attainthese objects by the various mechanical elements and by the machineillustrated in the drawings, in which Figure 1 represents a plan or topview of my said machine, the knife-cap P of Fig. 8 being removed and notshown; Fig. 2, an end view thereof; Fig. 3, an end view of a portion ofsaid machine, showing the arrangement of feed-gearing. Fig. 4 is adetail view showing inner side of connecting-rod and eccentric and shaftand gears connecting same with spindles. Fig. 5 is a top view of theparts illustrated in Fig. 4., showing the operation of the knife andknife-carriage. Fig. 6 is an end view of the same parts, as shown inFigs. 4 and 5, taken from the same end of the machine as is illustratedin Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a detail showing the method of regulating the throwof the eccentric and stroke of the connecting-rod and also of the knife.Fig. 8 isa cross-section of the knife-cap, 'knife, knifecarriage, andother parts, taken at the dotted line 00, shown in Fig. 1.

'Similar letters and numerals refer to similar parts.

The framework of .the machine is erected upon and, if desired, securedto the floor or any other suitable support. Said framework may beadapted in any well-known way to afford the requisite support andbearing for the various parts of the machinery.

That particular form of supporting-frame work which I have illustratedin the drawings ter are rigidly mounted upon spindles revolving insuitable bearings supported by said main stands E E E E and to each ofthe inner ends of these spindles is secured a chuck O O, of the usualconstruction, and these chucks carry the stay-log in the usual wellknownmanner.

The stay-log of a veneer-cutting machine is so'well understood that Ihave not illustrated it. To this stay-log is bolted in the usual way thelog from which the veneers are to be cut and which is caused to revolvewith the staylog by the revolution of the chucks.

I is the knife, which may have a corrugated edge, as shown in Fig. 1.The knife is bolted to the knife-carrier K, which may be constructed ofcast-iron.

T is one of a series of screws by the raising or lowering of which theexact position of the knife may be regulated.

U is the knife-binder, through which pass the bolts 20 and 21, theformer securing the knife and the latter assisting in securing theknife-binder to the knife-carrier. The knifebinder may also be made ofcast-iron.

R is one of a series of stiffening-ribs forming parts of knife-binder.

22 is the bolt upon which the connectingrod f is pivoted at one of itsextremities.

S is a key or gib extending, preferably, the entire length of theknife-carrier and which is held and adjusted into position bythe setscrews 23. The knife-carrier K, with all its attached parts, is causedto reciprocate by means of the connecting-rodfias hereinafter described.

K slides backward and forward upon a beveled track 24, which is fixed toor a part of knife-bed N.

As will be readily seen, the peculiar shape of this track assists inpreserving in exactly the required position the cutting-edge of theknife I, and a close fit between the knife-carrier K and this track isconstantly secured by advancing the gib S by means of the screws, so asto fill up any space caused by wear.

The knife-carriage N is fixed upon an adjusting-frame M, hinged to theslides L by hinge V, whereby adjustment in position of the knife-edgemay be still further secured by action of screw 23', as will be readilyunderstood from the drawings. (See Fig. 8.) The slides L travel upon thefixed ways H H, so as to approach the knife toward the log during theprocess of cutting and to enable the same to be withdrawn when desiredwith all its connected parts.

0 O are blocks or brackets upon which is mounted the knife-cap P. (SeeFig. 8.) This cap may be made of cast-iron. It is held in position andvariably adjusted by means of the adjusting-screws 26 26, 27 27',29 29'and by screw-bolts 28 28, provided with nuts, as shown in Fig. 8. Aswill be readily seen, by means of these bolts and screws the angle anddistance of the knife-cap relative to the remaining parts of the machinemay be varied and adjusted, the screw bolt 28 passing through a slot, asindicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 8.

30, Fig. 8, shows the guiding-lip of the cap, which is preferably madeof steel and screwed firmly to the cap. It remains to describe themechanisms whereby the reciprocating as well as forward motion isconveyed to the knife.

The forward movement of the knife is secured by the feed apparatus asfollows: To the spindles l) is fixed the gear-wheel 72 which meshes withanother gear-wheel a and the latter in turn with another '12. The shaftof n is provided with a pinion, which meshes with gear-wheel 'n, whichis 011 one extremity of shaft 31, at the opposite extremity of which isbeveled gear 32, engaging with corresponding beveled gear m, fixed nearone extremity of cross-shaft 1', at the opposite extremity of which isbeveled pinion k, which meshes with beveled gear 32 on main feedshaft F.Fixed to F are beveled pinions 33 33', which mesh with correspondingbeveled pinions 34 34', which latter are fixed to feedscrews 71 h. Thesefeed-screws are threaded through knife-bed N and by their rotation ineither direction, as will be readily understood, cause same, with itsattached parts, to advance either backward or forward along the ways HH.

The reciprocating motion of the knife is secured as follows: To thespindle B is fixed beveled gear a, meshing with pinion 35, (see Figs. aand 5,) the latter being fixed to shaft carrying gear-wheel b, whichmeshes with pinion 36 on shaft d, which carries eccentric e, to which isstrapped in the usual way connecting-rod f, the opposite extremity ofwhich is sleeved upon pin-bolt 22. It is desirable to be able to varythe throw of the eccentric, so as to increase or diminish at will thereciprocation of the knife, according to the nature of the wood or thekind of figure desired. This is readily accomplished by the device adetail of which is shown in Fig. 7, which contains a front View of saiddevice and a sectional view, taken at line w w, of said front view. Tothe eccentric-shaft d is keyed by feather 40, engaging with slot in theshaftin the usual well-known way, a sleeve 38. One end of this sleeve 424.2 is in shape eccentric and is grooved to fit the set-screw 37. Overthis eccentric portion of the sleeve is fitted in turn a second sleeve41, also of eccentric shape and provided along its inner side with aseries of grooves to receive set-screw 37, any one of which saidgrooves, in combination with the aforesaid groove in 4.2, constitutes aclose-fitting passage for the insertion of the set-screw 37. It will beapparent that by revolving the exterior sleeve 41 the amount of throw orextent of eccentric will be proportionately varied, and when the degreeof eccentricity desired has been attained the two sleeves are securedtogether by inserting and securing home the set-screw 37.

43 is a lever connected with sleeve 0 and whereby the latter is movedupon shaft 2', so as to lock or unlock with sleeved pinion 70, wherebythe feed-shaft and its connected parts may be connected or disconnectedrelatively to the feed-gear, sleeve 0 being keyed to shaft 2'.

From the foregoing description of the various parts of my machine itsmethod of operation will, I believe, be readily understood by any personskilled in the art to which it relates.

It is obvious that the log or portion of wood to be cut into veneershaving been bolted to a common stay-log firmly held by chucks O C in theusual well-known way and powerhaving been applied to the main shaft Athe log or wood to be cut will be revolved, and the knife-edge I and capP having been properly adjusted relatively to each other and to the1ogthat is, so that the guiding-lip of the cap shall be brought intoclose contact with the log slightly in advance of the knife-a veneerwill be cut in consequence of the pressure of the wood against theknife-edge caused by said revolution, assisted by the simultaneousreciprocation of the knife-edge, whereby the same is caused to cut witha drawing motion, and the various parts of the machine having beenproperly adjusted the relative position of cap and knife-blade to theedge of the log will be maintained automatically by the op- ICC erationof the feed-gear mechanism described. The rapidity of the feed, andconsequently the thickness of the veneer, may be regulated in the usualwell-known way by the arrangement of the feed-gears n M.

n is removable, and a gear having any desired number of teeth may besubstituted therefor, and n is arranged so as to be placed in variouspositions in order to mesh with the substituted gear, and this principleof substitution, whereby the rapidity of the movement of the feed-screwsis controlled, may be indefinitely extended throughout this chain ofgear wheels and pinions.

In order to attain the best results with my machine in cases where acorrugated knifeedge is made use of, the relation between therevolutions of the spindles B B and of the eccentric shaft cl should besuch that the revolutions of the latter within a given time shallapproximate as nearly as may be to a multiple of the revolutions of saidspindles. With this limitation the relations of these revolutions toeach other may be infinitely varied, the gearing being, of course,regulated accordingly.

Among the features of my invention which are particularly novel anduseful I may enumerate the following, viz: the imparting to theknife-edge of a drawing motion in directions transverse or substantiallytransverse toitssimultaneous forward movement through the wood, wherebythe cutting power of the edge is greatly increased and a smoother andmore perfect cut effected in all cases, and in the case of a corrugatededge a beautiful enrichment or variation of the grain of the veneer.Again, another novel and extremelybeneficial feature of myinvention isthat veneer-cutting may be thereby effected by the useof anon-reciprocating knife-cap P or guiding-lip 30, in combination with areciprocating knife-edge moving thereunder. The cap or lip thus servesnot only to add steadiness to the log as it moves past it in thedirection of its revolution, but also helps to hold the surface portionsof the log in fixed position as against the reciprocating movement ofthe knife. The log having been steamed or otherwise treated, as iscustomary, to soften its substance is elastic, and under the drag of areciprocating knife, particularly a corrugated one, tends near itssurface to move more than is desirable in the direction of thereciprocation, which tendency is largely overcome by the pressure andfriction of the non-reciprocating cap. Indeed, it would be difficult toobtain entirely satisfactory results with a corrugated reciprocatingknife were it not for this novel function which I have discovered in anon reciprocating cap or guiding-lip when combined with an oscillatingknife. Again, my arrangement of the rod f,which connects the eccentricwith the knife-carriage, is novel and exceedingly useful in that saidrod is so extended and placed that the point at which its motion istransferred to said knife-carriage is at or about the center of the rearof the latter, whereby I find that less power is required to reciprocatethe knife-carriage and the power is applied with the least possiblemachinery and in the most uniform and steady manner, all of which isparticularly desirable in a machine designed for the purposes described.Again, the dovetailed or beveled shape of the sides of the groove in theknife-carriage K and the corresponding shape of the track in theknife-bed N upon which the grooved carriage reciprocates areparticularly advantageous in that the parts are thereby enabled to slideback and forth relatively to each other with the greatest freedom, whileat the same time a close and exact union between them in a transversedirection is constantly maintained, whereby the edge of the knife isheld, as is indispensable to good work, in a fixed and proper relationto the log in spite of the strains and leverage thereon caused bycutting into the leg as the latter rotates against it, and, finally, thearrangement of longitudinal gib S, with its complement ofadjustingscrews 23, is of great advantage in preserving a close andexact fit between the beveled edges of the two parts last referred to.

What Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is thefollowing, viz:

1. In a veneer-cutting machine, a corrugated lengthwise reciprocatingknife, substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. In a veneer-cutting machine, the combination of a non-reciprocatingguiding-lip with a lengthwise-reciprocating knife, substantially as andfor the purpose described.

3. In a veneer-cutting machine, the combination of a non-reciprocatingguiding-lip 30 with a corrugated reciprocating knife 1, subtantially asand for the purpose described.

4. In a veneer-cutting machine, the combination of reciprocatingknife-carriage K, nonreciprocating knife-cap P, having guide-lip 30,connecting-rod f, eccentric e, eccentricshaft (1, gearing connectinglatter with main shaft, and feed-screws, shafts, and gearing,substantially as and for the purpose described.

5. In a veneer-cutting machine, in combination with reciprocatingknife-carriage and eccentric, a reciprocating arm or rod f, connectingsaid eccentric and carriage and attached to latter about its middle,substantially as and for the purpose described.

JOHN B. WILSON. Witnesses:

WM. CoTTER DICK, JOHN J. AHRENS.

